On April 22, Aradia Ensemble (Kevin Mallon, director) will give a free hour-long lunch-time concert at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre, featuring excerpts from Samuel Arnold’s Polly, written as a sequel to the composer’s highly successful The Beggar’s Opera.
Aradia’s recording of Polly, which will be released for sale at the concert, is a world premier recording. Aradia Ensemble Director Kevin Mallon will be joined by Laura Albino as Polly, Marion Newman as Jenny Diver, Jason Nedecky as Ducat, Loralie Kirkpatrick as Trapes, Gillian Grossman as the Indian Scout, Sean Watson as Morano and introducing Kyra Folk- Farber as Mrs. Ducat.
This week, April 16 and 17, the Kamloops Symphony (under the direction of Bruce Dunn) will present a pair of Charlie Chaplin movies, complete with live accompaniment. The films are The Rink and The Adventurer, and they’ve been freshly scored for smaller orchestra by Carl Davis. As the KSO’s media release advises, “a large screen will fill the stage to provide a larger than life view of The Rink and The Adventurer. American composer Aaron Copland’s Music for the Theatre sets the stage for an evening of hilarity.”
Les Violons du Roy (led by principal guest conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni, and featuring violinist Vadim Guzman) will present a dynamic and varied program of music from North and South America, tonight (April 16) at the Palais Montcalm. Works include Chavez’s Toccata for percussion, Villa Lobos’s Bachianas brasileiras #9, two tangos by Piazzolla, Prevost’s Scherzo, Barber’s Adagio, and Bernstein’s Serenade for violin, strings and percussion.
From May 4 to 13, the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal (led by Music Director Kent Nagano) will present a comprehensive Beethoven festival that includes all nine symphonies, the Triple Concerto, and a new work by Booker Prize-winning author Yann Martel, narrated by Michel Dumont and set to the ballet music from Creatures of Prometheus. Featured soloists in the “Triple” are James Ehnes, violin; Antonio Meneses, cello; and Menahem Pressler, piano.